About The Center

Mission

TRANSLATING ADVANCED RESEARCH INTO THE TECHNOLOGIES OF TOMORROW
The Bernard M. Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems is a multi-university National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (NSF-ERC) founded in 2000. Its mission is to develop new technologies to detect hidden objects and to use those technologies to meet realworld subsurface challenges in areas as diverse as noninvasive breast cancer detection and underground pollution assessment.

The center's multidisciplinary approach combines expertise in wave physics (photonics, ultrasonics, electromagnetics), multisensor fusion, image processing, and 3D CAT-scan-like reconstruction and visualization. The Gordon Center operates with the speed and agility more typical of a results-driven private company than of an academic institution, consistent with the needs of its industrial and government partners. With its commitment to leveraging technology transfer to spur economic development, the Gordon Center is intended to be a national model for the fusion of academic research and private-sector collaboration.

The Gordon Foundation has provided a gift to sustain the NSF-ERC and create a new educational initiative: the Gordon Engineering Leadership Program. The program will train graduates, called Gordon Fellows, who will constitute a cadre of technology drivers adept at envisioning new engineering products and skilled at leading multidisciplinary teams to bring their ideas to market.